Arsenal make hard work of Preston | Thoughts on Ramsey, Giroud and Mustafi

I was going to write a post yesterday, but I had to make sure I arrived at the airport 6 hours early after missing my flight to London a few weeks back.

Just tuned into the coverage for the FA Cup. Still amazed that pundits ask the question, ‘is it a massive risk for Klopp to rest players?’ Missing the point that you have a big squad to deal with smaller games like FA Cup 3rd Rounders.

It’s not disrespecting the cup, it’s dealing with the horrendous fixture list the Premier League dishes out each year. Also, we’re past the days of second string teams being terrible. The top teams have very good backup players these days. From a managerial perspective, it’s a chance to give some love to the young players, and it’s also a chance for the fringe crowd to make their mark.

I didn’t watch the game, but I took in extended highlights from the excellent Arsenalist.

So topline thoughts:

Result:

We’re through to the next round after a pretty ropey result in the week. Bar a sliced head for Gabriel, we came out of it relatively unscathed, a miracle considering how utterly terrible the team started out. The whole backline looked like they’d been drafted in from a local hockey team for a charity game. No shape, very little understanding and absolute chaos.

The defending for Preston’s opening was utterly car crash, no pressure in midfield, Gabriel falling over himself, Mustafi not quick off the mark, Monreal asleep at the wheel. Let’s be fair, that wasn’t Preston’s best chance, we made them look like kings for the opening 45. I’m hoping that the issue with Mustafi is just rustiness… my worry after a second awful game from him is that the first half of the season was predicated on flying confidence. He needs to get his shit together ASAP.

The second half was better, we found our feet, started to find Giroud and we opened on a flyer. Aaron Ramsey scored his first of the year. Iwobi picked up some scraps on the edge of the area, put on a Wiltord pirouette, jinking between jabbing legs, he found Aaron on the edge of the box, the Welshman crafted some space and let a low backlift rocket off into the top right. A lovely finish, much needed after picking up a lot of critique in the week.

The second came from, who else? Goal machine Olivier Giroud. He’d been causing problems with his bully boy antics and good runs, his reward came from a delightful Lucas Perez backheel into his path, he obliged and scuffed it into the back of the net. An aggressive, slightly less carry-on celebration. Another very important goal, you feel he’s slowly clawing back some lost love points after his horrendous run of nothing last season. Amazing what a bit of competition can do to focus the mind.

Keeper:

I only took in the highlights, so I can’t be sure this was a thing… but the looping crosses into the box felt tactical with Preston knowing our South American is not the best at dominating his box. Worth noting as we possibly swing into promotion / replacement time for the out of sorts Petr Cech.

#10:

Let’s never see Rambo at 10 again. It’s clear back-up in that position moving forward is Iwobi. He might make poor decisions, he might not always have the confidence we’d like, but he made some great contributions yesterday and he looks far more natural in that role than he does on the right or left.

#RamseyOut

Hold your horses people. Let’s see how he’s looking alongside Xhaka by the time Coquelin comes back into contention. The way I see it, Aaron dropped a superstar season a few years back, he was on the path to Gareth Bale like stardom. Then it all went to shit, but his head was still in the clouds dreaming of a fry-up in an Irish bar in Madrid. That’s been reflected in his play, playing the all action hero, thinking about himself a lot, not doing his job properly.

… and that has to stop. He has to remember he doesn’t have pedigree at elite levels right now. He has to earn that rep back. He won’t do that in the role he has for Wales, but he might do it next to Xhaka. Yesterday he scored a goal, floated the ball to Perez for his late assist. It’s minimal, but look, he has to build himself up again. I’d like to see what he can do. If it doesn’t work out, see ya later. If it does, and he can stay fit, we have a powerful player on out hands.

Yesterday will have worked his confidence the right way. Let’s see if he can take something incremental from that game and make it happen more often. Last chance saloon for him, but a good start.

Right, that’s it, onwards and upwards. A week off and Swansea up next, another new manager to play.

364 Responses to “Arsenal make hard work of Preston | Thoughts on Ramsey, Giroud and Mustafi”

An obvious question…so what is it going to take to light a fire under their collective rumps to get them going? Preston played above themselves, this much is likely true, but that first half was about as bad as it gets. Ozil to return? Getting Alexis back into the middle? We have seen this malaise before, but this one makes even less sense. It’s not about mental strength, it’s more a mental block with these guys. Only when they sense outright embarrassment do they respond.

Agreed Batistuta…but he’s also played so little at the top and his skills are still under-developed. Could be wrong, but he was not particularly good yesterday – but equally you get that Benik Adobe feel about him – is he jousting passing through?

No, your a bully Mustafi…plain and simple. To respond to someone with an insult and keep insulting them…that’s a bullies posture. Your last post rings of the arrogance that a bully carries. Your not misunderstood…your just too disrespectful in how you deal with people.

Again, I would send Holding out to Bournemouth for a loan as a replacement for Ake, and ask for Wilshere back. He is the closest thing we have as a replacement for Santi. The sight of Ramshyt is nauseating … I am really happy with Welbeck back and the intelligence and skill of Lucas Perez

Must say, I did enjoy Giroud’s scorpion dance the other day. Would have enjoyed it even more had we been up 3-0 instead of the time he wasted going 3-3 with a few minutes left. Rather selfish in the end, but amusing in its intent from one of the least brightest Gunners.

I’d say that we will be seeing a lot more of Holding in the next couple of years, Vicky. He has the makings and composure of a solid defender. Hopefully Wenger will not have destroyed the kids confidence by then.

Mustafi
There are many optimistic fans who still ally with Wenger like Wallace
There are Pollyanna-type fans like Tunny who appreciate that Wenger is done but still want to preserve the club’s unity.
There are Wenger-no-matter-what fans like Ughelli [subject to clarification]

Where do you stand in this Wenger debate?
Lets leave out the Kroenke part cos he’s the latest deflection for some Wenger-in fans.

Shocking how the lack of tactical nous from the manager means we’re solely reliant on a handful of excellent players… and when those players are out, we look crap.

Who on this squad would start most games for City? Kos, Alexis, Ozil (if he played his part), Bellerin. Take those players off the pitch, and we get a game we should have lost to a mid table Championship side.

Ox is a joke, unfortunately on us. Watch the Preston goal. We gave them a free boot from their keeper, Keeper boots it. Ox back pedals as though he is going to head it (as he should have) and then at the last moment just gives up and lets the ball drop behind him to Preston who then link up and score a few passes later. WTF? We’re going to play guys who give them a free clearance? Watch that moment, and watch Monreal’s reaction to Ox’s give up. He’s furious, rightly so. That crap would get you yanked out immediately from a manager who had a clue. It led directly to the goal — I’d pull my 10 year old son out for letting that happen.

We were bailed out by:
(1) a brilliant bit of true #10 skill from Iwobs finding Ramsey and Ramsey cracking a quick shot in a most un-Arsenal way from the edge of the box and

(2) a lovely combination from Ramsey to Giroud to Lucas backheel to Giroud. Those are four quality players, but as the commentary said, it was a most un-Arsenal moment — a long ball over the top as opposed to pointless dinking around the box before turning the ball over and

(3) Preston’s laughably bad luck finishing in the first half.

It’s so clear there’s no plan with this club. Assemble some misfit toys (Ox, Theo, Rambo etc) and let them “express themselves.”

What would be the point, RSPC? He will play for a few games then the others will be back and he will find the bench again, if he doesn’t wind up injured again. Leave him be…he’s better off getting handled by someone who actually gets it on rotation.

That would and could be true, RSPC. Can’t help but really appreciate the job Eddie Howe is doing with managing his game time. Wenger, you have the feeling, would drive him into the ground as he is often to do.

Christ sake stop moaning about league 1 teams and that they shouldn’t be able to buy foreign players. How else will we get rid of Sanogo. Though in Plymouth’s defense even they’re not as dumb as Sir twat a lot wenger

Adam
The day division three clubs started signing foreign players is the football died in that society.
The lower leagues should be for home grown players raised by those clubs or on loan from bigger clubs.
Just my humble opinion of course.

Pedro there is no point in waiting to see if ramsey gets his shit together.

it is never gonna happen 😀

he never even had a starseason. he just happened to hit peak fitness levels for a couple months around superior players who made it really easy for him to score a couple goals… without superior fitness and nonstop workrate he has pretty much nothing in the locker for the top level.

I can see your logic, Dissenter and it makes reasonable sense. To me though, football is a global game and everyone should have an opportunity to ply their talents wherever that may take them. But I do understand your thoughts.

Honestly I think Wilshere needs to detach emotion from his career.
He needs to ask Wenger to specify very clearly what his role at Arsenal is. He’s no longer the youth player that we are all endeared to.
Wenger needs to decide what he wants to do with the midfield before bringing back Wilshere.
There’s no set system and he plays virtually everyone [apart from Cazorla] out of position too often.

Adam,
I’m not so sure football has any claims to being global at the level of the third division [league one].
It’s entirely a local game that is firmly tethered to that locale. There’s no global audience for football in England lower than the Championship. It’s only a mediocre foreigners who will go to the third division. It’s better to have a mediocre local than a foreign nobody earning that 2,000 weekly. The average salary in League one is 2k weekly.

What have I missed? Nothing, that’s about right… we will still end up with nothing this season, fans will keep on grumbling and Arsene continue to sign new contracts. AFC = Abyss Football Club. Tough time as a gooner.

I’m sorry but when you say Wenger has “earned” the right to choose when he goes what really does that mean cus he’s like one of the best paid coaches in the world and that alone should compensate for whatever he feels Arsenal owes him for all he’s done but that should never be the reason he gets to choose when he leaves, that’s just a flawed school of thought

Mustafi,
Thanks for making that clear.
Many of us who come here to vent do just that…vent.
I’ve been here long enough to say with certainty that everyone [except for Redtruth] respect the pre-2004-2007] Wenger.
It’s the monster that he’s become that we all deplore. He has arrogated too much power to himself and does not know when the fire and desire to win is gone.
What we have here is the shadow of a once-great man who’s hanging around because he doesn’t know how to handle his retirement and walk away from the spotlight.
The Wenger we vent against is the one who has will to win.
The Wenger we deplore is one who’s managerial capacity is not suited for these times. He’s dated, stubborn and not willing to learn nor change.

I love the game too much to rationalize a manager who’s not about winning.
I understand that your ilk love the game too and will minimize Wenger’s shortcoming as a result.

Watching Le grove heroine Juergen Flopp laboring at 0-0 with minutes left against the Almighty Plymouth Argyle at Anfield at all places yet we have Crickets here. If this had happened at the Emirates, the pitchforks and sickles would be out all over the media sphere and on Le grove smh

The man despises all fans yet they fawn over him like scientologists do with Hubbard. Read some of his quotes about his adoring fans, guy wouldn’t give a fuck if any of you turned up, the stadium would still be full with tourists and he’d still earn 8.5million a year

“The man despises all fans…”
TYAGN…..again I’m no Wenger apologist, but when the extreme end of the argument uses statements like yours ” despises all fans” yet he has a lot of said fans supporting him….I mean it’s all confusing …..how do you even know that?

There are still a different kind of the Arsenal fans, quick find a new label for us. The types who understand that Wenger is done, but respect what he has done, want him gone now! But afraid of who the board will bring in….God not Bould, Bob Bradley-type, Howe etc type of managers that’ll see us drop into theLiverpool type abyss

As bad as the bin dippers have been over lady 20 plus years they’ve still contested 2 CL finals and 1 won of them. 1 more than wenger who for a number of years had probably 1 of the best squads in Europe

Yea he practically grazed the fields at the Emirates with his bare hands.

Look I get it, everything he did pre 2006 felt like the 12th wonder and some of us who haven’t entirely let his stagnation of our club move into hatred still appreciate all he’s done for us but surely that shouldn’t be enough for a supposed “big club” unless we are now all in agreement that we are now a top 6 team

TYAGN agreed, as bad as they have been, winning the 1 in 2 since their declining years, is satisfactory, but I doubt I’d be thinking of the 1 CL had Arsene won in 2006 and we found our selves 7th every season. I think the sentiments would be the same “thanks Arsene, but it’s time to go”

I still believe there is time for Arsenal to win a CL. Just hope it is in my lifetime…..definitely not with Wenger in charge. But I think going over board to the point of wanting us to lose every game is very un-fanlike

Its 50-50 BUT surely something entirely NEW would be better than this groundhog we’ve been in for years now, we’re never going to get relegated which is the worst that could happen so why not give the board the benefit of doubt of getting it wrong as you so strongly believe.

He needs to ask Wenger to specify very clearly what his role at Arsenal is. He’s no longer the youth player that we are all endeared to.

Wenger needs to decide what he wants to do with the midfield before bringing back Wilshere.”

This is exactly what I said in the summer of 2014.

Wenger needs to pull Wilshere to one side and tell him what his expectations are of him.

The same goes for Ramsey. What is his role at Arsenal? Is he a RW player when ever we’re playing a team that depends on their wide player?

Is he a B2B? It’s really anyones guess.

Mark my words, when Wenger leaves and certains player move on to greener pastures and eventually release an autobiography, look out for how many players will talk about their respect for Wenger but also highlight his lack of clarity and direction

And why’s your insistence on Howe and Bould, we’ve also been linked to Allegri and several other coaches.

I mean when was the last time we tried new things on the pitch, different formations according to our opponents i mean when was the last time anyone saw the team sheet before a game and felt wow, the gaffer has made some tactical changes, it’s always the same thing. Why do our seasons always fade off in one particular pattern each season i mean we’ve had different players in over 8yrs but the end result is always same save for the 2 cups in between.

I admit i started following the club in the early 90s and the Wenger years have been brilliant BUT seeing all those other changes around the footballing world makes me a bit jealous, going into games against the biggest teams and expecting to get trounced but hoping for a miracle is never a good way to watch the beautiful game i mean Liverpool may go up against Barcelona and know they’d lose the game but their fans will know the Barca players will have to be on their best to beat them but with Arsenal, its different, we’re beaten once the draws are done and the match itself is a one way street.

We don’t have the divine right to win every single football match BUT we certainly deserve to be better than we currently are or have been for a couple of seasons now.

The worrying thing about Mustafi in his two games back is that not only has he made mistakes (happens to anyone), but he’s looked like a disorganised, headless chicken. Both attackers he’s faced (Wilson and Hugill) have had him on toast.

Steve McManaman commented in the BT coverage that we didn’t look like we had ANY leadership on the field. That’s a long-held criticism of Wenger teams, but yesterday without Kosc you could see the defence completely lost all coherence and shape, and further up the field without Sanchez we lacked the presence of anyone actively looking to lead by example in tenacity and workrate. We need those visible leaders on the field because there are plenty of passive personalities in our squad.

I thought yesterday was Perez’s first poor game for us, but he still managed an assist. He deserves to be starting games atm.

TYAGN….again with the cynicism, Batistuta made it out that Liverpool could go into a game against Barca etc like we’ve not expected to get trounced but turn up well. You mean you’ve never enjoyed such games Thank You???? Shocking

Yea sure i enjoyed it BUT ultimately it was one of those glorious failures that amounted to nothing in the end, the question should be

1. Why couldn’t we repeat that performance again ??

2. Why all of a sudden in the second leg did we play like a bunch of amateurs???

The fact that its happens consistently over a period of time means there has to be one constant factor to that and that’s the manager, i mean Chelsea won the champions league with Ryan Bertrand and Malouda, Kalou et all…….we’ve had much much better players than those and all we have to show for it is a measly final appearance, again I’m not saying we should be winning the champions league yearly BUT we should at least not be embarrassed on a yearly basis, luck of the draw or not.

‘2. Why all of a sudden in the second leg did we play like a bunch of amateurs???’

We didn’t we got fucked by the ref in the Nou Camp we were leading at the time and not looking in trouble defending well before Van Persie got sent off for kicking the ball away. Hardly playing like a bunch of amateurs is it?

They did go through though against Barca and did actually win the competition in the end luck or not.

They’d played themselves into a position tonne on the receiving end of a bit of luck, when last have we played remotely well in any of those kind of high pressure games, i mean even Di Mateo was wise enough to know that Ashley Cole needed some kind of protection and played Bertrand in front of him, those little kind of tactical changes are things we’ve not seen at Arsenal for a long time

And you can’t ascribe Liverpool’s champions league win to luck, they bled their sleeves off to come back from 3down against one of the best sides of all time to win that match, see when you put in that much endeavour surely luck has to smile on you at some point.

“And you can’t ascribe Liverpool’s champions league win to luck, they bled their sleeves off to come back from 3down against one of the best sides of all time to win that match, see when you put in that much endeavour surely luck has to smile on you at some point.”

Ine of the best sides of all time.lol

Those chumps had a history of throwing away big leads.
I remember AC Milan taking a 4-1 Champions league Semi-Final first leg lead to Spain and losing 4-0 to Deportivo.